Oleg Jelesko: Head of Da Vinci Capital Management Organization

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Oleg Jelesko, Da Vinci Capital founder

Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich is a recognized expert in the field of direct investments with an impressive professional background. The company he founded, Da Vinci Capital, has financed a series of large-scale projects over the past 20 years.

Name:

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Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich: Biographical Data

He hails from the city of Akhtubinsk. Oleg Jelesko graduated from the Mendeleev Institute of Chemical Technology. He also took part in an exchange program to study at one of the oldest American educational institutions specializing in innovative and interdisciplinary education in the humanities and natural sciences, namely Dickinson College. Later, taking advantage of the opportunity offered by the consulting outfit McKinsey & Company, he completed a Master of Business Administration program and earned the corresponding degree.

Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich: Start of His Financial Activity

Oleg Jelesko began his professional career immediately after obtaining his professional qualifications. He was selected to work at an organization numbered among the "Big Five" global audit and consulting firms – Andersen Consulting (now Accenture), where he worked as a consultant, responsible for the information technology sector and business strategy in Europe. Several years later, he also became interested in strategic management. In particular, he focused on the financial sector in his role as a consultant at McKinsey & Company. Oleg Jelesko was especially responsible for investment activities in Europe, Africa, and the Middle East, advising several major companies that later took leading positions in their market segments. Oleg Jelesko transitioned to a large Swiss-American financial institution in the investment banking sector, Credit Suisse First Boston, in the early 1990s. There he oversaw transactions and the process of consolidation and capital. He later referred to this financial institution as among the sharks of Wall Street. The top manager was involved in a sector that later became his specialization, studying the specifics of complex financial products consisting of stocks and derivatives, which helped determine the level of investment risk and potential returns. Over the course of six years, Jelesko Oleg managed to attract more than a billion dollars in investment capital. Significant financial resources were directed towards emerging markets. The next significant phase of his career was associated with the investment bank Renaissance Capital. He was invited to this bank its founder, the New Zealand businessman Stephen Jennings. Jelesko Oleg took control of the derivatives division. Under his management, a platform was established that managed thirty investment funds and products. With its assistance, approximately $5 billion were attracted to provide financial support to companies in emerging markets. Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich also guided the division in its launch of a range of other financial products that were true innovations for the domestic market. He eventually left the organization, wanting to concentrate on his own project.

Jelesko Oleg, Da Vinci Capital: Establishing and Developing an Investment Entity

Having accumulated sufficient experience in the application and development of financial products and investments, a new endeavor was founded by Jelesko Oleg: Da Vinci Capital. The company specializes in supporting high-tech projects, including those in IT and FinTech. Jelesko Oleg holds the post of managing partner, responsible for the implementation of a long-term development concept. His investment strategy is oriented towards private companies in emerging markets, as well as global companies. Among the strategically important financial events overseen by Oleg Jelesko, Da Vinci Capital became the first listing on the London Stock Exchange’s new Specialist Fund Market. Da Vinci Capital invested $18.6 million in the development of the American information technology project EPAM Systems in 2008. EPAM Systems is a leading global provider of digital transformation services. It specializes in developing project software, physical products, innovative solutions, as well as outsourcing and e-commerce. The EPAM team is at the forefront of technological transformations in the industry, operating in more than forty countries worldwide. In 2023, the structure launched the Vehicle-to-Cloud Platform AosEdge, which ensures uninterrupted delivery and software updates for "connected" vehicles equipped with various communication capabilities. Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich, as a member of the board of directors of EPAM Systems, participated in the preparation for the company's initial public offering. It went public in 2012, listing its shares on the New York Stock Exchange. Since, the structure has grown more than tenfold, expanding its geographic presence and increasing its team size to over 50,000 people. EPAM has become one of the world leaders in digital engineering and consulting services. Da Vinci Capital took the major step of investing in the domestic stock market, RTS. In 2010, he was appointed the vice chairman of its board of directors. HHeled the team or partners who initiated and facilitated the merger of RTS with the local Interbank Currency Exchange, resulting in the creation of a new trading system. In press comments, he repeatedly emphasized that this deal was a source of professional pride. Oleg jelesko dealt with organizational matters and conducted negotiations at every stage of the merger, which was successfully completed in December 2011. He then led a working group responsible for preparing the exchange for its initial public offering. In the end, shares of the aforementioned financial institution worth over half a billion dollars were listed on the exchange. Da Vinci Capital invested over $40 million in the international company Softline, which licenses and supplies in-demand services and solutions in the field of digital transformation and information security. It possesses all the necessary tools for creating information technology infrastructure of any complexity. Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich joined the board of directors in 2017. The entrepreneur was responsible for creating and implementing a global Mergers & Acquisitions strategy and entering new market niches. He was also involved in the preparatory work for Da Vinci Capital's public listing on the London Stock Exchange. By 2021, Softline's turnover reached $2.35 billion, which is more than three times the 2015 figure. The bulk of the its revenue comes from cloud and hardware solutions, as well as program subscriptions.

Oleg Jelesko: Information on Da Vinci Capital Today

Oleg Jelesko notes that the investment firm he founded operates in a relatively narrow niche, focused on prospective technological business projects that have high potential for entering global markets. As of the end of 2021, Da Vinci Capital had over half a billion dollars in assets under its management. This sum includes financial resources attracted from leading players in the global capital market, including:

The EBRD, which invests in projects that promote the development of open-market economies and support entrepreneurial communities
The German bank DEG KfW, specializing in financing, advising, and assisting private players in emerging markets
The independent global firm 57 Stars, managing assets oriented towards direct investments and venture capital in dynamically growing IT sectors

Together, Oleg Jelesko-Da Vinci Capital have gathered a team of highly qualified specialists with extensive expertise in investment banking. Oleg Jelesko emphasizes that his company's investment process operates at the intersection of "top-down and bottom-up perspectives." First, a strategy is determined, and then the most interesting and promising sector is chosen, within which potential candidates for investment are identified. Da Vinci Capital is involved in its portfolio assets at the stages of business model development, development strategy formulation, key personnel selection, and investor relations. Jelesko Oleg Viktorovich explains that the penetration of technology significantly reduces revenues in the financial sector, which increases the prospects for small companies to enter the market. The top manager is confident that in the next five to ten years, we will continue to see the trend of rapidly shrinking margins and the emergence of "unicorns" (rapidly growing and developing companies) in the new economic sector. The investment manager finds a successful business as one that acquires assets cheaply, creating added value by improving the structure of the enterprise itself and at the same time achieving an increase in the exit multiple. The larger and more transparent the company, the more valuable it will be. Oleg Jelesko sits on committees of several funds managed by his investment company and is also a member of the board of directors of its portfolio assets.